The Bard's Daughter (A Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mystery) Read Free

understand that if he was convicted of murder, his children would suffer too. “It’s not me you have to convince,” Gwen said. “It’s Gruffydd, Robert, and Lord Cadfael.”
    “ They are all good men,” Meilyr said.
    Gwen felt her temper rising. “Good men? If any one of them believes you murdered Collen, as it seems both Gruffydd and Robert already do, Lord Cadfael could hang you! What will happen to Gwalchmai and me, then?”
    “ Cadfael won’t hang me. Why would he?”
    “ Because you killed Collen!”
    Meilyr shook his head. “I don’t know why you’re talking about a hanging. At the most, the galanas I am required to pay will be more than we can afford.”
    Gwen shook her head, a deep unease in her bones. “We’re in the south, Father, not in Gwynedd. Even if King Anarawd is in the ascendency now, the Normans have a strong hold here. We don’t know if Lord Cadfael will abide by the old laws.” Payment of galanas from the murderer to the victim’s family was the traditional Welsh method of punishing a murderer. Punishment by dismemberment and death was a Norman innovation, though one that some Welsh lords were employing despite the law.
    “ Don’t talk that way,” Meilyr said.
    “ Don’t you understand how bad this looks?” Gwen said. “Remember what happened to Gareth!”
    At the mention of Gareth’s name, the tension between Gwen and her father filled the room to the point that Gwen could almost see it. Her father sat still, just looking at Gwen. She stared at her feet. She’d sworn she wouldn’t say Gareth’s name, ever again, even if she’d thought about him every day since she was sixteen years old.
    Her first love—and her only one—Gareth had been a man-at-arms in the service of Prince Cadwaladr, ruler of Ceredigion. Gareth had wanted to marry Gwen but had been dismissed from Cadwaladr’s service before he could. His single act of disobedience—the refusal to cut off the hand of a young thief—had reverberated through all their lives. Cadwaladr had been angry, impetuous, and unreasonable, and Gwen feared that in respect to her father, Cadfael might be the same.
    Meilyr cleared his throat. “Just because I don’t remember what passed during the evening, doesn’t mean Lord Cadfael will think I killed my old friend.”
    “ Robert certainly thinks you did, and he will testify to Lord Cadfael to that effect,” Gwen said.
    Meilyr rubbed at his chin. “Somebody wants it to look like I did it.”
    “ But why?”
    Meilyr snorted. “So it doesn’t look like they did it, of course.” Meilyr’s voice was all patience, as if Gwen had the intelligence of Dai, the castle’s resident imbecile who hauled the slops from the kitchen and cleaned the latrine.
    “ But why you?” Gwen said.
    “ I don’t know.”
    “ You made it so easy for the killer. You walked right into his trap.”
    Meilyr snorted, though whether at Gwen or in agreement with her, Gwen didn’t know. She closed her eyes, trying to rein in her temper. She shouldn’t have shouted at her father, but she hadn’t been able to help herself. Thankfully, he hadn’t felt the need to slap her down just now.
    “ You must speak to Gruffydd,” Gwen said. “He’s very certain that you killed Collen, but if you tell him about your loss of memory, it might introduce a morsel of doubt.”
    Meilyr leaned back against the wall. “He won’t listen to me, not unless someone else comes forward to support what I have to say.”
    Gwen eyed him. “Father, despite your denials, are you worried that you might have killed Collen?”
    Meilyr shrugged.
    “ Why would you think that of yourself, even if you were drunk?” Gwen said.
    “ He and I had a slight disagreement yesterday,” Meilyr said.
    So that was what he’d been hiding. “The disagreement was serious enough to make you want to kill him?” Gwen said.
    Meilyr tipped his head back and forth to say maybe . “Not when I’m sober.”
    “ A disagreement over what?” Gwen